Privacy Policy

Goals and purposes of the privacy policy

Here at The Columbia Mortgage Company, we are dedicated to the relentless pursuit of our clientele's satisfaction. To that end, we have described below the measures and policies we practice to protect the privacy of our clients' personal information. In the event one terminates his or her client relationship with us, or becomes an inactive client, we will continue to adhere to the policies and practices described in this notice.

How we protect your privacy when you visit our website

When you visit our website, we do not collect any information about you without your explicit provision of that information. We do not track users or traffic to our site through cookies, or by any other means of surveillance.

The only time that we would collect information about a visitor to our website is when the visitor fills out the form located at the bottom of our webpage and submits it to us. The purpose of the form is for visitors to send an inquiry about a mortgage loan to The Columbia Mortgage Company. This form requires visitors to enter their name, address, phone number, e-mail address, location of the property for which the mortgage is needed, the borrower's income, the amount and type of mortgage desired, and the value of the property. We use this information to contact the visitor about a prospective loan.

We will never provide this information to a third party for purposes of marketing, spam, or any other such uses. We never share any of your personally identifying data with any other party without your explicit permission, nor use it for unapproved commercial purposes. We are the only company to see the information that is submitted through the web form. The information you provide to us through the website is used only to help develop a better sense of your mortgage needs and determine what kinds of products and services are of most interest to you. We use that information to contact you to discuss further possible options of a mortgage loan.

How we protect your privacy when you correspond with us via e-mail

If you send us an e-mail message, we may retain the message and your e-mail address and our response in order to service your needs. In some cases, such as if you e-mail a question or a comment to us, we may request your name and other information so that we can, for example, e-mail you with a personal reply. If you choose to supply this information, we will use it only for the specific purpose for which you supply it.

We never sell or offer contact information about our visitors to others. There's no need to send us an "opt out" message to prevent your name from appearing on other mailing lists.

How we protect your information as it is obtained by other means

We collect, retain, and use nonpublic personal information about individual customers, as allowed by law, to provide products and services to our customers. We collect information about you from the following sources:

- Information we receive from you on a new application or a previous transaction with us or other forms, such as your name, address, age, social security number, employment history and income, assets and liabilities, race and sex etc.

- Information we receive from a consumer reporting agency such as information relating to your creditworthiness and credit history

- Information we receive from your employer; financial institutions holding your assets; your current mortgage lender or landlord verifying your mortgage or rent payment history

- After receiving your loan application, rules of the New Jersey Department of Banking require that we keep your information on file for at least 3 years

How we protect your privacy once you begin the loan approval process with us

Your information is provided to those lenders only from whom we seek preliminary or final loan approval. Per your authorization, these lenders may obtain your credit and employment information and any other information that is required for loan approval. These lenders acquire information on a need to know basis.

What is done with information after Columbia Mortgage obtains loan approval

After your loan approval and your request, we may provide the approval information and conditions to your closing agent or attorney. If the loan is closed, the file may include the loan settlement statement (HUD-1), mortgage and note. We will maintain your file in our records for 3 years. At the end of 3 years, we may discard the file or retain it for any future reference. Your information will not be disclosed to any third party without your explicit authorization. This information may be used, upon your authorization, for refinance and home equity loan approval process.